the joy diet - week four - "creativity"
As I sat down to write my thoughts about this past week's chapter, I checked in with Jamie's blog to see what her reaction was. What a joy to witness synchronicity! She had voiced exactly what I was thinking about how TRUE it is that in this journey we have our own "special designed-by-and-for-you road" and that we need to learn to adapt what's in front of us to our unique situation and experience. And, in fact, what better application of creativity could we find?!
Here's an interesting question I like to ask myself to gauge my willingness to be creative at any given moment: If I desire something green, and what I find is blue, am I willing to go look for and add yellow?
Of course, it is an overly simplified question, but hopefully my meaning is evident. How willing are we to adapt something we find that doesn't quite fit for us in order to achieve or realize a goal or desire? How creative will we allow ourselves to be so that we may benefit from the NEW something in front of us? If we don't like what we see, how can we either adjust our vision or shift our position to gain a new perspective? Or to use a concept Martha presented in the chapter (which really resonated for me as a yoga instructor!), how far are we willing to push ourselves toward our edges in order to find something new?
To me, this is at the heart of creativity: making small adjustments to discover something beautiful. I remember many long afternoons during college spent wandering immense spaces at the art museum and wondering why certain abstract or modern pieces of art were considered "art" or "creative" -- I just couldn't see it, at first. Then, one day, I pushed myself toward my edge; I sat on a bench and gazed at a color field painting for what seemed like an hour. It was uncomfortable. I kept thinking, "What is that all about?" There was a lot of gentle noise in my head. As I began to quiet the noise, however, something magical happened. I began to SEE the painting for the first time. And I instantly got it.
No, I didn't have an epiphany about the artist's intention. I didn't begin to see shapes and colors that weren't there, and I didn't hear angels singing. What I understood and felt was that the ARTIST understood and felt something at that moment, and for him, the only way to CREATIVELY express the inexpressible was to paint THAT particular painting. That for him, it was an expression of pure creativity -- whatever that meant for him at that time.
Which brings me to the part of this chapter that resonated most for me -- unifying false dichotomies. I LOVE discussions about dichotomous thinking! They excite and fascinate me because I believe we live in a gray world, albeit one filled with sunshine. Sure, as humans, we LOVE to classify things into boxes, and the more distinct the boxes are from each other, the better. "This is black, and that is white." Historically, this kind of classification has helped us survive: "This is safe, and that is dangerous." And at times, it has helped us understand important scientific principles: "This planet has gravity, and that planet does not." Increasingly, however, when we look at the world around us -- particularly its social systems and human arts and sciences -- we see the line between THIS and THAT has blurred significantly.
And that's a GREAT thing! I think it's AMAZING that the world is so GRAY! In fact, I frolic in it. Why, you ask? Because it means we get to be CREATIVE!! If we subscribe to false dichotomies in any way, as Martha suggests, then we rule out any other possibility than the two sides of any given dichotomy. There is, by definition, no possibility of creativity in that. If you want green and all you get is blue and red, then "it is what it is" and you wouldn't think to go look for some yellow because it isn't an option. You were given blue and red, and that's that.
I loved that part of the exercises this week -- breaking down any false dichotomies I encountered in my daily meditations and explorations of my desires. I did not start reading this book and join the bookblogging because there was something MISSING in my life. I started this as a question, an exploration – what does MORE JOY look like? How might I incorporate even MORE joy than what I already have? This is a reflection of non-dichotomous thinking.
And, interestingly, perhaps a more helpful way of looking at the "enemies" exercise that seems not to have resonated for some readers (it didn't for me either) is within the context of dichotomy. I came across this page while searching for some clear definitions, and there is a part that helped re-frame the exercise on enemies for me:
One way to shatter false dichotomies is to look at what both sides might have in common -- and I don't mean "extremism." Sometimes you'll find a commonality so important that the two "opposites" will look like brothers.
For me, this is a logical expression of the principle of oneness -- that we are all, in essence, one being with many different faces. Based on this principle, there is something we can learn from anyone -- even our most vile foe.
Here is a final thought Chapter Four - Creativity:
Beck proposes the following: "You’re always responsible. Creation is hard. Creation usually doesn’t work."
While I agree with the essence of what she says, the statements didn't completely ring true for me. In fact, the last two statements actually seem somewhat dichotomous, don't they? I might say it like this:
"You're always responsible for what's inside your hula-hoop. Creation can be hard at times. Creation always works, but result may not be what you had originally intended. And that's ok."
Rock on!